UCU Digital Institutional Repository(UCUDIR)
Welcome to the Uganda Christian University Digital Institutional Repositoy (UCUDIR). This is the University's official Institutional Repository. It aims to collect, preserve and showcase the intellectual output of staff and students of UCU. This growing collection of research includes peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, working papers, theses, and more.
- The Repository ingests documents, audio, video, datasets and their corresponding Dublin Core metadata
- The aim is to open up this content to local and global audiences, with have optimized well for Google Scholar so your items here shows up on Google Scholar searches
- we also issue permanent urls and trustworthy identifiers, including optional integrations with handle.net and DataCite DOI
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Communities in UCUDIR
Select a community to browse its collections.
- Items in this community present a concise summary of information that can help readers understand, and likely make decisions about, government policies.
- This is a collection of Masters and Doctoral theses and dissertations submitted in electronic format to the Uganda Christian University.
Recent Submissions
Anti-retroviral therapy adherence and HIV status disclosure among women aged 18 to 35 years in selected health facilities in Kampala District
(Uganda Christian Universy, 2026-04-09) Joyce Bbosa Nakyobe
This study examined the association between HIV status disclosure and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among 369 women aged 18–35 receiving HIV care in Kampala, Uganda, using secondary data from the 24-month BONE: CARE prospective cohort study. Although ART adherence improved over time, peaking at 83.6% at month 21 and 81.8% at month 24 HIV status disclosure remained low. At baseline, only 32.5% of participants had disclosed their status, and just 5% of initial non-disclosers disclosed by study end. Multivariable analysis showed that women aged 25–35 years (aPR = 1.10, p = 0.048) and employed women (aPR = 0.92, p = 0.033) were more likely not to disclose their HIV status.
The findings highlight persistent psychosocial and economic barriers to disclosure despite improved adherence. Comprehensive interventions focusing on stigma reduction, empowerment, and targeted support services are needed to promote both HIV status disclosure and sustained ART adherence among young women living with HIV.
Prevalence of postpartum depression and associated factors among young women of 18–24 years in Wakiso District
(Uganda Christian University, 2026-05-08) Dorothy Nyinawumuntu
Introduction
Post-partum depression (PPD) is among the most common psychological disorder affecting women during the postnatal period. It is a psychological disorder that impacts on behavior, mental health and physical abilities of women following childbirth. The WHO defines PPD as psychological illness that lasts more than 2 weeks and usually exhibits persistent sadness, loss of interest in usually activities etc. Although PPD affects women of all reproductive ages; young women aged 15-24 are more at risk of PPD due the stigma inflicted by the community because of being having a teenage pregnancy and childbirth. Several studies have found that PPD is twice as much among women aged 15-24. In a study done in Indonesian, it was found that young women are more at risk of PPD among all women of reproductive ages.
Methods
The study aimed at assessing prevalence of PPD, and the associated risk factors among young women (18-24). A structured questionnaire was administered to total of 177 young women aged 18-24 leaving in Wakiso district. These were young women accessing postnatal services in the wakiso district. Systematic sampling technique was used to select study participants and Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data.
Results
The prevalence of PPD in the study was 33.3%. At the bivariate, parity, type of delivery, unplanned pregnancy, pregnancy complications, baby’s preferred sex and current illness, nature of support from partners and depression during pregnancy were more associated with PPD. At the multivariate analysis, unplanned pregnancy, baby’s preferred sex, current health status of the baby and support provided by the partner were significantly associated with PPD among young women
Conclusion and Recommendations
PPD is a serious psychological condition affecting the health and wellbeing of young women. The study recommends that the district health office through health facilities designs and implements customized mental health service provision system for young mothers while seeking postnatal care services
Maternal health information seeking behaviors and perceptions among Ugandan pregnant women: theory-informed study
(CrossMark, 2026-01-01) Namyalo, Josephine; Kiva, S. Joseph; Otieno, Emmanuel
Background: Although the maternal mortality ratio has declined in Uganda, but it remains a public health threat, constraining the achievement of maternal mortality targets. Research suggests that health information-seeking behavior is significant for understanding different maternal health outcomes. This study aimed to understand the underlying factors affecting health information-seeking behaviors among pregnant women in selected hospitals in Mukono and Kampala Districts, Uganda.
Methods: Utilizing a qualitative design, 24 pregnant women aged 16-24 years who were seeking antenatal care (ANC) from Mukono, Nagalama, and Naguru Hospitals were recruited through purposive sampling. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results: Data analysis identified 20 codes that generated three themes: reasons for seeking information, challenges faced in seeking information, and behavioral change communication strategies.
Conclusion: Findings showed pregnant women accessed information from health workers. The main barrier to receiving information was different reporting times for ANC. There is a need to develop a centralized, standardized health information repository and to provide continuous professional development to providers. Future research should examine interventions to improve health-seeking information behavior across various cultural contexts.
Prevalence and correlates of intimate partner sexual violence among pregnant women in Lamwo district – Northern Uganda
(Global Health Institute, 2026-04-17) Lanyero, Joan; Otieno, Emmanuel; Nsubuga, Mushin; Kobusingye, Jackline; Namyalo, Josephine
Background and Aims: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a silent pandemic, associated with 10% of all violent deaths and 290,000 years lost to morbidity. Intimate partner violence has been explicitly associated with not only health consequences of gynaecological and psychological nature among women but also deaths. The sexual form of intimate partner violence which increases in intensity during pregnancy is associated
with higher risk of morbidity. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner sexual violence during pregnancy among pregnant women in Lamwo district, Northern Uganda.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was done at 6 facilities in Lamwo district from January-February 2022. Stratified and simple random sampling were used to sample 260 pregnant women out of a pregnant women population size of 810 women who sought antenatal care on a monthly basis from health facilities. The structured interviews were used for data collection. Data was entered in Epi Info version 7.0 and analysed in SPSS
version 25 using the log-binomial model. A multivariate analysis was done. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Results: The results showed a 24% prevalence of IPSV with 73% of pregnant women denying the use of measures to protect them from sexually transmitted infections. Pregnant women who were carrying their first, second, and third pregnancies were more likely to experience IPSV than women with more than 3 pregnancies (aPR 5.307 [CI = 1.965 -14.335], p = 0.001). In addition, women whose spouses had a habit of engaging in
fights, had ever physically abused them, and had a preference for the gender of children demonstrated an increased prevalence of IPSV.
Conclusion: Out of every 10 pregnant women in the sample, two of them were sexually violated. The lower the gravidity and parity, the more likely to experience IPSV. Gravidity correlated more with IPSV than any other IPSV factor. The findings from this study may inform health interventions aimed at reducing intimate partner sexual violence.
Perceptions and experiences of willingness to pay for community based health insurance: a qualitative study
(Academic Research and Publishing, 2025-03-31) Otieno, Emmanuel; Mukasa, Norman; Odoch, Florence Ajok; Ddamulira, Christopher; Nuwagaba, Ddezi; Namyalo, Josepine; Walimbwa, Aliyi; Basaza, Robert K.
The study objective was to explore perceptions and experiences of willingness to pay for community-based health insurance and factors that affect their willingness to pay among farming households in Uganda. A qualitative study was done among 33 participants in Uganda. An explorative study design with the phenomenological approach was employed. Both purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used. Isingiro District was selected because it is geographically serviced by community-based health insurance schemes in a region with the largest proportion of members at 57%. Consequently, there is augmented availability of data and generalized results. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted via semi-structured questionnaires. A univariate and inductive thematic analysis were done. Findings show low level of
awareness, perception of low income, high amount of premium, good perception of health status are the barriers to pay and indicate the elderly population are unwilling to pay for the community-based health insurance scheme. Yet, the scheme is designed to ameliorate healthcare encounters of such vulnerable groups. This study provides timely evidence and impetus for strategies that address the increasing burden of healthcare. In conclusion, there has been low level of awareness about community-based health insurance. This study proposes to expand universal health coverage of informal sector workers through increased sensitization and capacity to pay premium. Also, the age factor highlights the need to customize premium for membership based on demographic landscape of the communities. To effectively address the future of community-based
health schemes, it is critical to develop effective community evidence-based policy options for a sustainable scheme model. This intervention could engender access to a holistic healthcare service by the informal sector. Thus, it may fast-track the achievement of universal health coverage agenda by 2030.